Sse Enterprises Inc

09/27/07

Good drinks, awful service

by linzmarie213

I've visited Collosso a few times and have never left fully satisfied. The drinks are pretty good (LOVE the Naughty Kitty and the Claws Fizz), but the service is just horrible. We visited on a weekday evening when it was very slow, and the waitress copped a major attitude with us when we said we weren't going to order food. She practically threw our drinks on the table and only came by once to ask if we needed anything else. Very disappointing and I doubt we will ever return.

• Pros: Good drinks
• Cons: Servers with attitude

06/23/09

Never going back

by teamnohyphen

I will never go back here. We went to celebrate a friend's birthday tonight and were looking forward to some delicious drinks and snacks. Initially the server treated us like she was doing us a huge a favor by coming by out table and taking our order. Eventually our freinds arrived and it seemed like all was well. After the food arrived a few of us stepped outside to see a friends dog, and the overly-hip waitress told the remaining party at the table that we had "walked out on the bill" and they would have to pay for it. For a place that has "be patient" posted all over the bar, including the menus, I would think the staff might follow their own advice. I approached the server and told her I was sorry she had the impression we had left and was responded to with a smarmy smirk. It is not worth going here. There is nothing special about being treated like you are in the way and untrustworthy.

• Pros: drinks are good
• Cons: worst wait staff, possibly ever

02/17/09

collosso is awesome

by portlandfoodey

Collosso is one of my favorite restaurants in Portland!

It does take a while to get your food, but it's totally worth it-- the waitress told me everything is made from scratch.

I don't understand why everyone thinks it's dirty there, maybe because it's so dark? Come on, the darkness is part of what makes it so cool (and romantic).

I love how it feels like an authentic European restaurant. The service isn't overdone and fake like most nice restaurants in town. My waitress got us what we needed and didn't come around every few minutes bothering us. She wasn't wearing a fake smile or trying to get us to order more stuff.

I think the only reason other reviewers have had a problem with this place is that they really just wanted to eat at the Portland City Grill, where the food is all pre-made, the servers only care about you because they want to make money off of you, and the place is brand new and shiny but seriously lacking any character.

• Pros: ambience, yummy drinks, excellent food
• Cons: not a place to go if you can't chill out and enjoy your meal

01/14/09

Not worth the one star required for a review

by BellNChain

Too bad you can't give zero stars because this place deserves it. It's been a while since I've been to Colosso and I'm not sure when new management took over but it is definitely not the cute place I remember. I mean really, am I remembering the right place? This place is seriously dirty. The staff here is pretty much the bad side of Portland, lazy and dirty. We went in and didn't get service for a while. If it wasn't for the other customer we would've thought they were closed. The food was just ok but the waitress was so deplorable and so disinterested in serving customers it really makes you forget 'just ok' food. At first I thought I just had one bad experience here but then I talked to some people about it and read the other reviews on here and I know it's not just me. There are so many awesome (and clean) places in town I don't understand why anyone would go here a second time - unless you're one of the staff members that just go to hang out instead of work.

• Pros: Close to lots of other places you can go to instead
• Cons: Filthy restaurant, extremely lazy staff

11/13/08

They don't accept restaurant(dot)com coupons anymore!!!

by jjkpdx

We went to Collosso for dinner tonight and had a horrible experience. Apparently it's under new management and short story don't bother going.

We walked in and waited to be seated, but noone ever came to help us. The waitress wasn't friendly, no one ever asked us if we wanted a second drink. The tables are indeed sticky, the oil and vinegar containers had a filthy layer of cheesy (hopefully) something or another on them. We sat with napkins crumpled on our plates trying to make eye contact and finally had to get up and ask for the check.

We had (still have I guess) a Restaurant(dot)com coupon for the place. The new owner doesn't accept them. We made a stink, I gave him the option to either accept it or lose a customer. He said no.

To top it all off the menu has changed significanlty and the food wasn't even that great.

• Pros: it USED to be a good tappas restaurant
• Cons: New management is running the place into the ground.

11/06/08

We Agree, What Happened to Collosso?

by 1marypoppins

We have stopped by Collosso on our way to Winterhawks games over the last couple of years and have noticed a definite declilne in service, and cleanliness. The salt, pepper, oil and vinegar shakers were absolutely grimey. Since the restaurant just opened at 5 p.m. and we were the 1st diners at the table, it could not have been the last customers. The table was sticky and dirty. Service was sloooooow. The place has always been dark, but we could not help feel the place was filthy because of the impression left at our table. We do not plan to go back for quite some time, if ever.

08/19/08

Happened to Collosso?

by vaa722

This place used to be so great. The food was still yummy...though we had to ask a few times to order....the bartender was playing some hip hop music so loud that we considered leaving....we had to ask to have them turn it down. when we finally did order drinks, the bartender was so busy chatting with his friend at the bar that it seemed eons before our cocktails arrived (my friend and I were the only ones there at the time...a total of 3 people). I like a creative cocktail now and then...but there was so much foliage in my drinks that it kept getting stuck in my straw.

The cook came out and was trying to fix the AC - he was filthy....the place feels so gross and dirty....the tables were sticky - I think from whatever paint treatment was on them...though I could not be sure.

All in all - a very disappointing experience especially in light of the fact that I used to pine away for their tapas...now it's just a nightmare.

I really, really try to support local businesses...especially ones that have been around for a while...however, , there are just too many options in the market now to frequent a restaurant where the service is sub-par and the environment makes one cringe at the filth....wonder what the kitchen looks like....ewwww...don't even want to think about THAT!

• Pros: The food is really very good.
• Cons: Filthy, poor service

08/02/08

Collosso rocks!!

by KorwynKU

I own a business accross the street from this place. I don't usually go out for drink very often. But when I do, Collosso is the place for me. The bartender recognized me since the 2nd time I went there. Also now I don't even have to order my drinks any more. He always knows the kinda drinks I like and I have never been disappointed at all. The food was good too, I had a couple different kinds of appetizers. I haven't had bad any food yet. I've been in food business for all my life, I know good food when I see one. ;o) If you go there and don't know what to drink, just ask Ricky for the drink that the owner of Thai Pod always get, you won't be disappointed, trust me. When I recommend something to anybody, I don't lie. ;oP

• Pros: Friendly service and awesome drinks
• Cons: I don't like the smell of cigarette smoke on my outfit after I leave, but that happens when I go to any bar.

07/21/08

sparse staff, alcoholic manager, inconsistent, filthy

by maysa_nicholls

collosso is just down the street from my apartment and i used to enjoy a nice beverage after a long day of work. my friends and often met up at collosso to decompress from the week. we have, thankfully, found a new and much improved drinking hole. the food and drinks are okay but everything else is so inconsistent, not to mention dirty. (i would recommend holding you bladder until you get home as the bathrooms are dark , sticky, and smell of urine.) the restaurant is way understaffed and therefore the food and drinks are late, forgotten, or wrong. the manager who who is he is gods gift to cocktails comes to work drunk and/or high and pays no attention to the frantic servers. he is too buys showing off in front of the cute girls at the bar. this place needs more quality staff, a major scrubdown, and a new game plan. whoever owns this joint needs to get a clue.

• Pros: great location
• Cons: horrible manager, understaffed, filthy, bad service

04/14/08

Worst Restaurant in Portland

by dawndelcastillo

Wow, I had much higher expectations of this place. We went on a Friday night last minute and were sat promptly. The wait staff did take a long time to come take a drink order but since they were busy we didn't worry too much. I ordered water only and getting that was like pulling teeth. The menu is extremely limited but we all chose something for dinner, I ordered a beet salad and everyone else ordered an appetizer and a dinner. The first appetizer came out 40 minutes later and was given to just one person at our table, two people had ordered the same dish. We were not sure if we should start eating or wait but the individual with the food just started. about 40 minutes later my pathetic small super expensive salad came out, at that time they asked the other individual who ordered the same appetizer if the waitress had mentioned that they were out of the dish he ordered over an hour ago . We said no, at that time we were extremely frustrated because we had been there over an hour and had gotten two dishes 40 minutes apart from each other. My buddy ordered another dish and she assured us it would come out with the other food. 35 minutes later one of the dinners arrived, 20 minutes later the next one arrived. i was done with my salad already and my buddy had no dinner. We were completely ignored, no one came to check, no one refilled my water and no one refilled drinks. 30 minutes later we asked about the last dinner that still had not shown up and they assured us it would be right out. The staff was so snotty and short that it made asking painful. Needless to say the dinner never came out and we ended up leaving.

Short of the story is; there are too many great restaurants to behave this way. I can get better service at Kennedy School and that isn't saying much.

My recommendation: Find somewhere else to eat....

• Pros: no pros
• Cons: everything about this restaurant is horrible

02/29/08

Mmmmm, cocktails

by mbucky

Yes, of course tapas are good. Tortilla espanola, toasted almonds, olives -- all yummy in my tummy. However, the one thing that makes this great tapas joint HIGHLY recommended are the totally fabulous cocktails. The bloody marys have capers in them and the frilly drinks are beyond incredible. I have not met a drink on their menu I haven't LOVED. One cocktail has orange blossom water and tastes like my long-lost drink from heaven. The service is well, true to form. They are a bit hands off and not incredibly friendly, but it reminds me of Spain -- polite w/out imposing. Also, big parties fit comfortably in the side room. I'm like homer w/ donuts around this place.

• Pros: great drinks, tapas, paella
• Cons: i haven't experienced one, yet